In memory of our brother and son, Robert Bagnell,
who died moments after being tasered by police in Vancouver, British Columbia on June 23, 2004. Bob was the 7th Canadian to die and the 110th in North America.

Thursday, May 01, 2008

OTTAWA — Potential health risks of Taser stun guns must be independently studied, says the latest Canadian Medical Association Journal in a sardonic editorial that blasts the manufacturer for intimidation tactics.

Taser International funds much of the research it cites to support Taser safety while challenging and sometimes suing those who raise concerns, it says.

"Tasers are perfectly safe and have never, ever killed anyone," writes Dr. Matthew Stanbrook, an assistant professor, researcher and specialist in respirology at the Toronto Western Hospital.

"We know this because Taser International . . . says so, claiming 'the Taser . . . cannot stop the heart.' And Taser International is an honourable and, for most of its existence, very profitable company.

"So honourable, in fact, that they have sponsored research to prove the Taser's safety," he continues. "Just about all the research, as it turns out. Moreover, they pay for experts to travel across North America and spread the good news about how safe Tasers are and correct any misconceptions that might arise from events like deaths of suspects in police custody or immigrants in Vancouver's airport."

Stun guns are now the subject of several continuing or pending inquiries across Canada. The weapons came under intense scrutiny last fall when amateur video of the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver International Airport was released, to public outrage.

No comment from Taser International was immediately available. It has vigorously defended its devices in several lawsuits and stresses that the weapon has never been directly blamed for a death. It has, however, been cited repeatedly as a contributing factor.

Especially at issue is the unknown effect of zapping severely agitated suspects with up to 50,000 volts. The sudden deaths of several people who were in a heart-pounding state before being Tasered have been explained using the contentious, non-medically recognized term "excited delirium."

"It's troubling that it's trotted out so often as an explanation for these events given the uncertainty around it," Stanbrook said in an interview. Taser advocates, along with an RCMP training manual, go so far as to suggest it might be best to zap people in that condition so they may be quickly subdued and medically treated, he added.

"It seems that these deaths due to excited delirium only occur in the context of being confronted with a law-enforcement officer with or without a Taser. Delirium in general is a very common condition - we see it all the time in hospitals.

"It is rare if ever that people who are delirious in hospitals have sudden death. So this has really come out of nowhere as something that suddenly kills people and requires rapid intervention."

To recommend the Taser as a go-to management tool in such situations "seems to us bordering on the absurd," Stanbrook said."Another perspective . . . is this is exactly the situation in which someone is at risk of dying from the Taser."

He says federally funded, independent research is badly needed to get to the bottom of such questions. At the very least, there should be an unbiased review of police-confrontation deaths before and after Tasers were introduced to assess net harm or benefit.

More than 300 people in North America, including 20 in Canada, have died soon after being Tasered. The electronic guns are overwhelmingly popular with police, who say they avoid injuries to suspects and officers and are certainly a better option than firearms.

Amnesty International and other critics have called for a moratorium pending an independent and comprehensive safety review. They say "Taser creep" has led to the jolting of unarmed suspects as a matter of handy compliance rather than to defuse major threats.

A Canadian Press analysis of 563 Taser incidents reported by the RCMP between 2002 and 2005 revealed that more than 79 per cent of suspects were unarmed.

The reports also suggested a pattern of use by the Mounties as a quick means to keep relatively low-risk prisoners, drunks and unruly suspects in line. More recent reports released by the RCMP have been heavily censored to remove key details such as exact dates and injuries linked to the stun guns.

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taser-Related Deaths = 997+ in North America

See "A LIST OF THE DEAD"According to Taser International, the taser had nothing to do with any of these deaths. According to Amnesty International, the taser has been identified as either a cause or contributing factor in at least 60 of them. That number would be higher; however medical examiners and coroners are often not impartial but are instead biased in favour of the Crown or, as has been shown, they are under tremendous pressure from - among others - Taser International, to make a particular finding.See Judge rules for Taser in cause-of-death decisions

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Taser International finally admits risk that their weapons may affect the human heart

RCMP - TASERS POTENTIALLY LETHAL

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My Brother - Robert Bagnell June 27, 1959 - June 23, 2004

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2) Until such time as independent and unbiased study into the "real world" safety implications of Tasers has been properly completed, a moratorium must be imposed upon these weapons.

3) If, after independent and unbiased study has been completed, the Taser is going to remain in the police arsenal, it must be placed at a level equal to lethal force on the continuum of force and used only as a second-to-last resort.

4) Safety standards must be developed for Tasers. There are currently no Canadian safety standards in place for this weapon.

5) Police must not be allowed to investigate themselves but must be subject to independent and unbiased civilian oversight.

6) Families of people who die in police custody in Canada must be provided with funding so that they may be properly represented by legal counsel.

07. Robert Bagnell, 44 – Vancouver, BC - June 23, 2004 - X26 - "Official" cause of death: Consistent with restraint-associated cardiac arrest due to acute cocaine intoxication and psychosis. Bob's autopsy report showed marks on his body consistent to multiple taser shots, which incidently could not be affirmed by the pathologist because she could not explain those marks.

09. Samuel Truscott, 43 – Kingston, ON - August 8, 2004 - X26 - "Official" cause of death: Heart attack cause by drug overdose and "I can state categorically that the Taser did not play any role whatsoever in his death" said Chief Coroner for Ontario, Jim Cairns

24. Michael Langan, 17, Winnipeg, MB - July 22, 2008 - tasered 1 time - the autopsy report says Langan's death was caused by a heart arrhythmia brought on by the Taser shocks

25. Sean Reilly, 42 - Brampton, ON - September 17, 2008 - Peel Regional Police - X26 - tasered 2 times - the inquest jury will determine the official cause of death, however, “the forensic evidence indicated that the force used by the officers, including the Taser discharge, did not contribute to his death"

27. Trevor Grimolfson, 38 - Edmonton, AB - October 29, 2008, X26 - According to sources, after he was pepper sprayed, Trevor was tasered directly on the chest 5 times and tasered on the back of the neck 2 more times - Edmonton police said he was only tasered 2 times but testing on the tasers proves otherwise - "Official" cause of death: excited delirium brought on by drugs

29. Grant William Prentice, 40 - Brooks, AB - May 6, 2009 - RCMP - tasered 2 times - "Official" cause of death: acute cocaine toxicity and "the medical examiner also concluded the taser did not play a role in the death"

Ain't it the truth!

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80% percent of the population could be moved in either direction

Human rights activist Susan Sontag, when asked what she had learned from the Holocaust, said that 10 percent of any population is cruel, no matter what, and that 10 percent is merciful, no matter what, and that the remaining 80 percent could be moved in either direction.

THE Successes AREN'T the Problem

"The issue is not whether or not the taser can be used in a high percentage of cases to reduce death and/or physical trauma to officers and civilians alike. The issue is whether or not it's OK to kill the rest through ignorance and rationalization just because it's a small percentage ... The successes aren't the problem - the failures are. They're being told that tasers are nonlethal, so they blast away until people can't move. They're killing people by accident." Dave Siegler, father of Raymond Siegler, who died on February 12, 2004

The artistic side of Robert Bagnell

WE KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE

ROBERT ANGLEN

Robert Anglen, a reporter with The Arizona Republic, documented the first 167 Taser-related deaths. Mr. Anglen launched a journalistic investigation of Taser International, linking the Taser to multiple deaths, among other eye-openers.

At the 2005 Arizona Press Club Awards, Mr. Anglen won first place in the Investigative reporting category. He was the recipient of the Don Bolles Award for his report entitled "Taser tied to 'independent' study that backs stun gun'. “As part of an extraordinarily thorough investigation of Taser International, Anglen uncovered ‘smoking gun’ documents that showed the manufacturer was heavily involved in the key study that purported the devices are safe. Anglen also uncovered conflicts of interest and documented wide-spread problems with Taser safety — a matter of national and international public interest.”

In 2006, Mr. Anglen was a runner up for the Arizona Press Club's Virg Hill Journalist of the Year award. Peter Bhatia of The Oregonian wrote “Robert Anglen is an investigative reporter, pure and simple. Clearly, he is a reporter who, once he sinks his teeth into something, stays with it until the story is done. His ongoing work around the company that makes Tasers speaks to that."